OSAGIE K. OBASOGIEPROFESSOR OF LAW

Brilliant, forward-thinking, illuminating issues both relevant and provocative, much-followed in the media—Osagie Obasogie has built his career as a law professor around questioning assumptions.

His recent research and first book, exploring how people blind since birth understand race, provides an empirical basis from which to rethink social and legal approaches to race and discrimination. Tied to his interest in bioethics and his joint appointment with the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Obasogie’s research also looks at the role science plays in constructing racial meanings and explaining racial disparities.

Obasogie is just getting started, and UC Hastings, he believes, is an ideal partner in his work. “UC Hastings has a deep institutional commitment to supporting research,” he says, “which means faculty have endless opportunities to engage legal and social problems in the most innovative ways possible.” Programs launched in recent years, including a consortium with UCSF on law, science, and health policy, position the law school to play a lead role in legal education and beyond. “With campaign support, faculty members can ensure that UC Hastings’ longstanding tradition of excellence continues,” Obasogie says, “to the benefit of students, alumni, and the law school itself.”